What are Asbestos Test Kits for your Home?

What are asbestos test kits for your home?

If you live in an older house, one that was built in the 1970s or earlier, chances are it has asbestos in it. Asbestos, a naturally occurring mineral, was used in many building materials in the U.S. for decades because it was fire resistant and also relatively inexpensive. However, it was later discovered that the fibers in asbestos are carcinogenic and can cause serious lung problems in people exposed to them. Asbestos in building materials remains inert and generally safe as long as those materials are not disturbed. If you want to do renovations to an older home, it's important to test for asbestos first.

Asbestos test kits

There are kits you can buy at hardware stores, home improvement stores and elsewhere that allow you to test for asbestos at home. These kits require you to test a piece of building material in your home by cutting it out and then sending it in to be tested in a lab. The advantage to this method is that it is inexpensive, as kits usually cost less than $20. However, it can be dangerous if you don't take proper precautions. Also, the test can take a week or more to get back and results may not always be that accurate.

Professional asbestos testing

Another option is to have professional asbestos testing done by hiring a certified company to come into your home and test for the presence of asbestos. This is a safer method, because you are hiring professionals to do the work for you, and it is a lot more likely to be accurate, because the crew you hire usually will test several areas in your home. The one drawback to this method of testing is that it is much more expensive, generally costing several hundred dollars for the work and results. Click on loose fill asbestos insulation for more ideas.